The Food–Water Dilemma of Agriculture in Arid Regions: Assessing Abu Dhabi Water Options for Domestic Agriculture

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonAgriculture is by far the largest water user, both worldwide and in arid regions such as the Abu Dhabi Emirate (ADE). ADE is the largest region in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is characterised by negligible surface water and groundwater recharge resources with limited recharge capacity. Moreover, growing agricultural expansion in ADE through heavy subsidies and ambitious field planning is increasing the pressure on this non-renewable groundwater, as demonstrated by the constant decline of the water table and deterioration of groundwater quality. Despite the government push to achieve food self-sufficiency, current domestic agricultural production is only able to contribute a small fraction of the Emirate’s food needs and the majority is still imported. In recent years, the ADE government has expressed concerns over the significant impacts of high water use on groundwater, which is predicted to be completely depleted in a few decades’ time. However, only limited anecdotal data exists on groundwater usage and associated farming practices, making it difficult for the government to devise suitable strategies and policies needed to address the agricultural water use challenges in the region. This project will investigate the current farming practices, their impacts on groundwater, and how they are influenced by existing agricultural policies, with the aim of developing an appropriate framework for ensuring sustainable management and regulation of agricultural production and its water use. The research employed a mixed-methods approach that was initiated by a comprehensive review of relevant extant literature and data synthesis of the available secondary data. This was followed by a large face-to face survey with farmers to understand their current practices. Later, semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts from relevant entities regarding their roles and policies used for the regulation and management of agricultural water. The study’s key findings provide a comprehensive empirical data set, the first in the region that has the essential inputs for policy development and future agricultural strategy. The findings show that agriculture in ADE uses 71% of the groundwater for over 76% of the farms; 80% goes to irrigate palm trees, which is more heritage driven than commercial. Palm tree cultivation yields produce an excessive 441% self-sufficiency, of which the majority are used as animal feed. This production is poorly managed, as it consumes a high water quantity (22,745 m3/ha) with low water productivity (0.6 kg/m3 and $1/m3). The study demonstrates that a change in palm tree cultivation practices, such as self-sufficiency ratio, water use, yield rate, etc., would help to sustain a suitable groundwater abstraction rate while meeting the local market needs at the same time. The cultivation of vegetable crops via open-field farming also reveals low production performance due to its less reliable supply, accounting for only 27considerable amount of water (16,527 m3/ha to 30,422 m3/ha) and yield low water productivity (0.2 kg/m3 and$0.3/m3 to 5.9 kg/m3 and $5.3/m3). Cucumbers, cultivated in greenhouses, are the only vegetable with a low water use (10,096 m3/ha) and high water productivity performance (33.8 kg/m3 and$23.7/m3). Limiting open-field farming and focusing on cultivation technology such as greenhouses will help to reduce the total water consumption by more than 95%. The study further shows that the current regulation and management of agricultural water use policies and practices are highly fragmented, and that there is a lack of an integrated approach for dealing holistically with agriculture, water and food security issues. Therefore, an Agriculture-Water Policy Framework (AWPF) has been developed, based on the key study findings and best practice from the literature, to provide guidance for the decisionmaking process. The AWPF consists of seven primary steps that are interlinked in an iterative sequential process. These steps involve a systematic and integrated approach with a feedback loop to offer guidelines for making decisions relating to the development, analysis and implementation of sustainable agricultural water use, strategies and policies

PRE-TREATMENT TEMPERATURE AND MULTI-RESPONSE SURFACE OPTIMISATION OF ULTRASOUND-ASSISTED EXTRACTION OF ANTIOXIDANTS FROM RED DATES

Ziziphus jujube known as red dates are natural flora, are a rich source of antioxidant bioactive compounds and are widely used in making Chinese traditional medicine. However, the optimization of extraction conditions and demonstration of extraction kinetics of red dates remains a gap. Therefore, the main objective of this research was to enhance the antioxidant activity via DPPH, crude extract yield, and TPC by response surface methodology (RSM). Also, mathematical modeling of the TPC extraction kinetics was performed. Single-factor experiments were adopted to identify the preliminary RSM ranges of four extraction parameters such as liquid-solid ratio (10, 20, and 30 ml/g), extraction temperature (50, 60 and 70°C), time (40, 50 and 60min), and ultrasonic power (70, 80 and 90%). The extraction kinetics based on RSM optimized conditions were modeled into six extraction kinetic models. As result, the highest crude extract yield (4.56 g), highest TPC (0.023 g GAE/g extract), and highest antioxidant activity (85.88%) were obtained at 60ºC. The optimum values were liquid-solid ratio 30ml/g, extraction temperature 60°C, time 60 min, and ultrasonic power 70%. The antioxidant activity of red dates after optimization (90.59%) was higher than that of synthetic antioxidants, Butylated Hydroxytoluene (84.71%), and Butylated Hydroxyanisole (77.73%). Furthermore, the best-fitted kinetic model was the second-order kinetic model due to its coefficient of determination (R2) at 0.9849, being the closest to 1 and its root mean square error (RMSE) was the lowest, 0.001028 among other models

Study of depression among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at a tertiary care hospital

Background: Diabetes and depression are two major issues related to community health. Diabetes patients frequently co-occur with depression. Diabetes patients frequently co-occur with depression, which calls for serious attention because delayed diagnosis and treatment can worsen the patients' complications. Assessing the prevalence of depression in diabetic patients and identifying the various factors associated with it were the objectives of this research study. Methods: In this study 70 adult patients suffering from type 2 DM participated in this 6-month prospective study. Sociodemographic data and clinical features of the participants were collected. The presence and severity of depressive symptoms in patients have been assessed by a PHQ9 questionnaire. Ethical approval was taken before the commencement of the study. SPSS (Version 20) was used for data analysis. Results: The majority of the patients were from 41-50 years of age group (32.9%) with a female predominance (58.6%), with no symptoms of depression before type 2 DM (92.9%). Most of them had primary education (32.9%) and majority were homemakers (44.3%) residing in urban are (65.7%) living joint family setup (68.6%). Most of them had 11 to 20 years of type 2 DM duration (745.8%) with a high family history of type 2 DM (75.7%). Majority of them were on Oral therapy (47.1%) with ophthalmic complications (32.9%). The majority of them had mild depression (5-9) i.e. 67.1%. Conclusions: Due to patient-specific diabetes management and inappropriate diabetes treatment, the majority of cases were found to have depressive disorders. This article focused on a few common factors and their relationships that lead to depression in people with diabetes

The Pex4p-Pex22p complex from Hansenula polymorpha:biophysical analysis, crystallization and X-ray diffraction characterization

Peroxisomes are a major cellular compartment of eukaryotic cells, and are involved in a variety of metabolic functions and pathways according to species, cell type and environmental conditions. Their biogenesis relies on conserved genes known as PEX genes that encode peroxin proteins. Peroxisomal membrane proteins and peroxisomal matrix proteins are generated in the cytosol and are subsequently imported into the peroxisome post-translationally. Matrix proteins containing a peroxisomal targeting signal type 1 (PTS1) are recognized by the cycling receptor Pex5p and transported to the peroxisomal lumen. Pex5p docking, release of the cargo into the lumen and recycling involve a number of peroxins, but a key player is the Pex4p-Pex22p complex described in this manuscript. Pex4p from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that is anchored on the cytosolic side of the peroxisomal membrane through its binding partner Pex22p, which acts as both a docking site and a co-activator of Pex4p. As Pex5p undergoes recycling and release, the Pex4p-Pex22p complex is essential for monoubiquitination at the conserved cysteine residue of Pex5p. The absence of Pex4p-Pex22p inhibits Pex5p recycling and hence PTS1 protein import. This article reports the crystallization of Pex4p and of the Pex4p-Pex22p complex from the yeast Hansenula polymorpha, and data collection from their crystals to 2.0 and 2.85 Å resolution, respectively. The resulting structures are likely to provide important insights to understand the molecular mechanism of the Pex4p-Pex22p complex and its role in peroxisome biogenesis

Stapled Peptides Inhibitors:A New Window for Target Drug Discovery

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) is a hot topic in clinical research as protein networking has a major impact in human disease. Such PPIs are potential drugs targets, leading to the need to inhibit/block specific PPIs. While small molecule inhibitors have had some success and reached clinical trials, they have generally failed to address the flat and large nature of PPI surfaces. As a result, larger biologics were developed for PPI surfaces and they have successfully targeted PPIs located outside the cell. However, biologics have low bioavailability and cannot reach intracellular targets. A novel class -hydrocarbon-stapled α-helical peptides that are synthetic mini-proteins locked into their bioactive structure through site-specific introduction of a chemical linker- has shown promise. Stapled peptides show an ability to inhibit intracellular PPIs that previously have been intractable with traditional small molecule or biologics, suggesting that they offer a novel therapeutic modality. In this review, we highlight what stapling adds to natural-mimicking peptides, describe the revolution of synthetic chemistry techniques and how current drug discovery approaches have been adapted to stabilize active peptide conformations, including ring-closing metathesis (RCM), lactamisation, cycloadditions and reversible reactions. We provide an overview on the available stapled peptide high-resolution structures in the protein data bank, with four selected structures discussed in details due to remarkable interactions of their staple with the target surface. We believe that stapled peptides are promising drug candidates and open the doors for peptide therapeutics to reach currently "undruggable" space

Breastfeeding advice for reality: Women's perspectives on primary care support in South Africa

Breastfeeding education and support are critical health worker skills. Confusion surrounding infant feeding advice linked to the HIV epidemic has reduced the confidence of health workers to support breastfeeding. High antiretroviral therapy coverage of breastfeeding women living with HIV, and an Infant Feeding policy supportive of breastfeeding, now provides an opportunity to improve breastfeeding practices. Challenges remain in restoring health worker confidence to support breastfeeding. This qualitative study presents findings from focus group discussions with mothers of young infants, exploring their experiences of health worker breastfeeding counselling and support. Analysis followed the thematic framework approach. Six researchers reviewed the transcripts, coded them independently, then jointly reviewed the codes, and agreed on a working analytical framework. Although mothers received antenatal breastfeeding messages, these appeared to focus rigidly on the importance of exclusivity. Mothers described receiving some practical support with initiation of breastfeeding after delivery, but support and advice for post-natal breastfeeding challenges were often incorrect or absent. The support also ignored the context in which women make infant feeding decisions, including returning to work and pressures from family members

Breastfeeding advice for reality : women's perspectives on primary care support in South Africa

Breastfeeding education and support are critical health worker skills. Confusion surrounding infant feeding advice linked to the HIV epidemic has reduced the confidence of health workers to support breastfeeding. High antiretroviral therapy coverage of breastfeeding women living with HIV, and an Infant Feeding policy supportive of breastfeeding, now provides an opportunity to improve breastfeeding practices. Challenges remain in restoring health worker confidence to support breastfeeding. This qualitative study presents findings from focus group discussions with mothers of young infants, exploring their experiences of health worker breastfeeding counselling and support. Analysis followed the thematic framework approach. Six researchers reviewed the transcripts, coded them independently, then jointly reviewed the codes, and agreed on a working analytical framework. Although mothers received antenatal breastfeeding messages, these appeared to focus rigidly on the importance of exclusivity. Mothers described receiving some practical support with initiation of breastfeeding after delivery, but support and advice for post‐natal breastfeeding challenges were often incorrect or absent. The support also ignored the context in which women make infant feeding decisions, including returning to work and pressures from family members. Despite improved breastfeeding policies, restoring confidence in health workers to support breastfeeding remains a challenge. The post‐natal period, when mothers experience breastfeeding difficulties, is particularly critical, and our findings reinforce the importance of continuity of care between communities and health facilities. This research has implications for how health workers are trained to support breastfeeding. Greater attention is needed on developing skills and confidence in identifying, assessing, and supporting women experiencing breastfeeding challenges.South African Medical Research Council; Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health; World Health Organization; National Research Foundation, South Africahttp://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mcnam2020Paediatrics and Child Healt

Translating new evidence into clinical practice: A quasi-experimental controlled before-after study evaluating the effect of a novel outreach mentoring approach on knowledge, attitudes and confidence of health workers providing HIV and infant feeding counselling in South Africa

Objectives We report the effectiveness of a mentoring approach to improve health workers' (HWs') knowledge, attitudes and confidence with counselling on HIV and infant feeding. Design Quasi-experimental controlled before-after study. Setting Randomly selected primary healthcare clinics (n=24 intervention, n=12 comparison); two districts, South Africa. Participants All HWs providing infant feeding counselling in selected facilities were invited. Interventions Three 1-2 hours, on-site workshops over 3-6 weeks. Primary outcome measures Knowledge (22 binary questions), attitude (21 questions-5-point Likert Scale) and confidence (19 questions-3-point Likert Scale). Individual item responses were added within each of the attitude and confidence domains. The respective sums were taken to be the domain composite index and used as a dependent variable to evaluate intervention effect. Linear regression models were used to estimate the mean score difference between intervention and comparison groups postintervention, adjusting for the mean score difference between them at baseline